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Ana practiced in an empty swimming pool in her native Serbia.

Ana has won 8 WTA singles titles including a Grand Slam (Roland Garros in 2008).

Ana started playing tennis at age 5, inspired by Monica Seles, who is from the same country.

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Ana beats Kvitova to advance to the second round
01/05/09
Ana Ivanovic

Ana beat Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic 6-4 6-2 in her first match of the year in Brisbane, Australia.

The match was tougher than the score suggests and Ana had to work hard to come up the winner.

In the next round, Ana will face Italy's Roberta Vinci. Ana has played Vinci twice and won both matches, last time at the Gold Coast in 2007.

Ivanovic through to second round
01/05/09

Ana Ivanovic predicted a tough opening to her Australian summer, and she got it with Czech Petra Kvitova causing worries for tennis’s glamour girl and Brisbane International organisers...

Ana Ivanovic predicted a tough opening to her Australian summer, and she got it with Czech Petra Kvitova causing worries for tennis’s glamour girl and Brisbane International organisers.

Ivanovic eventually prevailed 6-4 6-2 on Monday night but was forced to get down and dirty to overcome the 18-year-old left-hander who pushed her all the way for more than 90 minutes.

The top-seeded Serbian took an hour to win the first set, which included four straight deuces, as big-serving Kvitova played a powerful baseline game that suggested an improvement on her world No.44 ranking wasn’t far away.

In the end, it was a patchy Ivanovic who took the most of her chances and pulled away after saving two break points at 3-2 up in the second.

Playing in a glistening magenta dress, she blew kisses to a jubilant pro-Serb crowd after nailing a forehand winner.

“It is always tough, the first match and it was just a matter of hanging in and waiting for opportunities,” the 21-year-old said.

“I’m very happy to get this victory.”

So too were tournament organisers who have marketed the inaugural women’s event around the darling of the tennis world.

Rising six-footer Kvitova unleashed a string of forehand winners throughout and appeared set to take the world No.5 and tournament drawcard to an opening tie-breaker.

She showed from the outset it would be a difficult night for Ivanovic, blasting a forehand down the line past her in the second point of the match.

The teenager, who grew up idolising another Czech left-hander in Martina Navratilova, then had two break point opportunities on the Serb’s next service game.

Ivanovic broke to 3-1 but Kvitova immediately broke back in a tense arm-wrestle as four straight games went to deuce.

They were locked at 4-4 but an overruling by the chair umpire in Ivanovic’s favour seemed to unnerve the youngster who failed to hold her serve at 4-5.

Ivanovic won’t be unhappy by the early scare as she is looking to get as much court time into her legs as possibly before the start of the Australian Open on January 19.

Showing the rust of a lengthy off-season, which included a fortnight of preparation on the Sunshine Coast, Ivanovic had trouble with her ball toss throughout.

After enjoying a pre-match chat with Pat Rafter, she admitted afterwards she considered yelling out “Sorry mate” Rafter-style several times to Kvitovic but roused at herself to focus.

“I had to fight for each point (but) it was good in the first match of the year. You want to get into your rhythm,” Ivanovic said.

“It could have gone either way (late in the first set) but I thought stay tough and make her hit as many balls as possible.”

Brisbane's draw released
01/03/09
Ana Ivanovic

The draw for Brisbane has been released and Ana is the #1 seed. She will face Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic in the first round.

The tournament is an International Event, the lowest category among WTA events.

Ana can only play one International event in each half of the year, she made wise choice with Brisbane because this way she can take the week before the Australian Open off an prepare properly for the first Grand Slam of the year.

Off-court No.1 eyes top spot on it
01/03/09

Serbian stunner Ana Ivanovic is solely focused on a return to No.1 with a hot start to 2009 in Australia rather than pushing her claims as world sport’s glamour girl...

Serbian stunner Ana Ivanovic is solely focused on a return to No.1 with a hot start to 2009 in Australia rather than pushing her claims as world sport’s glamour girl.

Ivanovic will officially kick-start her campaign Down Under on Monday night when she plays her first-round match at the inaugural Brisbane International.

The tournament drawcard will face Czech teenager Petra Kvitova, the world No.50, at Pat Rafter Arena after the centre court was set aside for her in the opening night session almost a week ago.

Ivanovic has been training on the Sunshine Coast for the past fortnight to prepare herself for an assault on the Australian Open.

The statuesque 21 year old, currently world ranked No.5 after an injury-hit end to last year, is motivated by her 2008 final loss to Maria Sharapova at Melbourne Park.

“I really want to take it one step further this time and hopefully win it,” she said at the Queensland Tennis Centre on Saturday.

“But I think it’s important not to think too much about the final and take it step by step and enjoy every match.”

The No.1 ranking in the game, held by compatriot Jelena Jankovic, who is yet to win a Grand Slam event, is also at the top of her to-do list, and she is treating the Brisbane event as a key springboard.

“It’s very important to start well and get your confidence and I set some goals for myself this season but my main goal is to try to be very consistent and to perform well at the biggest tournaments and then rankings take care of themselves,” Ivanovic said.

“I’ve worked very hard and I believe I have the qualities to get back to No.1 position. It’s going to be tough for sure but I can do it.

“I think it’s very open. Especially in the last couple of months, women’s tennis has been so close with the race for No.1 position and I think it’s still in play.”

Ivanovic grabbed No.1 last June after breaking through for her maiden Grand Slam title at the French Open.

Despite the slide, Ivanovic is still viewed as the most marketable women’s player in the game with Sharapova.

Brisbane International organisers were quick to make the most of her to promote the tournament with a glamourous photo shoot on the Kangaroo Point cliffs, wearing a platinum-coloured evening dress.

But the six-foot tall right-hander, unfazed by the rain and gloom that saw the shot moved, stresses she’s an athlete rather than a model and distances herself from talk otherwise.

On her fourth lengthy pre-season trip to Australia, Ivanovic and Spanish boyfriend Fernando Verdasco trained together in Noosa and she admitted they would look to use it as their training base again in the future.

“I want to be here every year. It’s a great place to be and I love the beach and people are so friendly and so easy going,” said the Brisbane top seed, who has family in Melbourne.

“In the morning when I first arrived from Europe, I woke up at 5.30 am and I go to the beach and there are people working out and it’s so inspiring to see.”

2008: A year in review
11/15/08

2008 was an amazing year in Ana Ivanovic's career.

She won her first grand slam title and reached the top of women's ranking. She definitely reaffirmed herself as one of the top stars in the game.

But all of those achievement also generated very high expectations on her, and then her results dissapointed many.

In balance, the good greatly outweight the bads and 2008 has been without a doubt Ana's best year in the tour.

Ana's season officially started in Sydney, Australia. She reached the semifinals in this tournament.

Then she played the first grand slam of the year, the Australian Open. Here Ana reached her second grand slam final where she lost to Maria Sharapova. Despite the loss, there was a positive note in the fact that Ana played a lot better than she did in her first grand slam final in Roland Garros the previous year.

After early losses in Dubai and Doha, Ana went to the United States and won Indian Wells, one of the most important events outside of the grand slams. It was at the time Ana's biggest win.

Then Ana had an early loss in Miami, and somehow bad results in the clay season, losing in the semifinals in Berlin, where she was the defending champion, and her first match in Rome.

But in was in Paris where Ana found her best form. She breezed through to the semifinals without dropping a set, she only lost one set to Jankovic in the next round and then easily disposed of her opponent in the final, Dinara Safina, to win her first grand slam title. With that win, Ana reached the top of the WTA ranking.

With the preasure of being a grand slam winner and world's number 1, Ana performed poorly in Wimbledon, losing in the third round to China's Jie Zheng.

She went to play Montreal with a thumb injury that seriously affected her ability to hit the ball and lost eary. The injury forced Ana to pull out of the Olympics in Beijing, and went to the US Open without preparation and lost early to a qualifier.

After a string of bad losses in Tokyo, Beijing and Moscow, Ana finally found some form in Zurich, where she lost to Venus Williams in the semis, but not without a fight.

Ana won a tournament in Linz the next week and it looked as her form was finally coming back.

Bad luck striked again in the WTA Championships in Doha. Ana was affected by a stomach virus and lost her first two round robin matches.

Feeling ill and with no chances to qualify, Ana pulled out of her last match.

Ivanovic Wins Diamond Aces
11/08/08
Ana Ivanovic

Ana has won the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour ACES Award because of the off-court promotional activities she underwent throughout the season.

The award is a result of a season long race among WTA players to determine who has contributed the most to promote women's tennis.

Congratulations Ana!

DOHA, Qatar - Ana Ivanovic has claimed the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour ACES Award for the first time in her career by virtue of an impressive push of off-court promotional activities at the end of the season-long ACES Race. The award is given to the player who consistently goes above and beyond to promote the sport of women's tennis to fans, media, in the community and beyond.

"I'm very happy to win this fun competition," Ivanovic said. "Being a professional tennis player is about a lot more than just hitting tennis balls and winning matches. The off-court side of things is also very important, and it's essential that we as athletes do what we can to promote the sport. There have been a lot of enjoyable ACES activities this year. I always enjoy meeting fans, sponsors and other guests when I'm at tournaments. Two of my most enjoyable activities this year were playing doubles with some amateur players in Tokyo and the photo shoot we did in Dubai."

"Ana is not only an incredible athlete and champion, but also a player who has earned the respect and admiration of fans, media and sponsors by continuously giving back," said Larry Scott, Chairman & CEO of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. "Throughout the 2008 season, Ana has given of herself selflessly and been a true ambassador in promoting our sport."

"Ana has made a significant effort to promote women's tennis this year and it gives me great pleasure to present her with this award during the Sony Ericsson Championships," said Aldo Liguori, CVP and Global Head of Communications and PR, Sony Ericsson. "It's great to see some very strong contenders for the 2008 ACES Award and to recognise the players who are so dedicated and passionate towards promoting women's tennis to fans and new audiences."

This year marked the second season in a row that a point weighted system was used to award each of the off-court activities performed by players at Tour events. After each event, the off-court contributions of each player are measured and the ACES Race standings are published on sonyericssonwtatour.com.

The following is a breakdown of the players who amassed the most points during the 2008 season for ACES activities:

1. Ivanovic, Ana (595)
2. Jankovic, Jelena (565)
3. Williams, Serena (345)
4. Chakvetadze, Anna (315)
Dementieva, Elena (315)
Hantuchova, Daniela (315)
7. Kuznetsova, Svetlana (265)
8. Williams, Venus (245)
9. Schnyder, Patty (240)
10. Petrova, Nadia (230)

The ACES award was first introduced in 1995, in memory of former Tour CEO Jerry Diamond. Since then eight players have won the award, namely Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario, Gabriela Sabatini, Amanda Coetzer, Lindsay Davenport, Martina Hingis, Anastasia Myskina, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Ivanovic.

Ana pulls out of her last match in Doha
11/07/08
Ana Ivanovic

Ana pulled out of her remaining round robin match against Svetlana Kuznetsova due to a stomach virus that has been affecting her the whole tournament.

The match was not too important. Both Kuznetsova and Ana were already unable to qualify for the semis, the only meaning of this match was to determine who finished 3rd and 4th in the group. The only consequence of that is the amount of ranking points and prize money awarded.

The round robin format is completely inadequate for tennis, it has never worked well since it was started. Often some players have already qualified or have been already eliminated by the time the third round is played and obviously they won't give their best effort.

It is also a shame that the WTA forces player to play or at least be around, even if they are injured or ill. Why would otherwise Ana play two matches while suffering from a stomach virus? The WTA only cares about having matches without any concern for the quality of them and they don't care at all about the players.

The WTA was created to defend the players, it's sad to see what it has become.

Current Tournament
Brisbane International

Main Draw - Singles - Seed: 1
January 4 - January 10, 2009

1R	won	Petra Kvitova	6-4 6-2
2R		Roberta Vinci

Next Tournaments

01/19/09

Australian Open

Rankings

Singles: 5 Points: 6912

Weeks at # 1: 12

Prize Money
2009: $0.00
Career: $5,903,547.00